Ani-Crap Review #21: Kampfer

Kampfer was a 12-episode action/ harem comedy TV anime aired
from October 2 to December 17 of 2009 in Japan. The anime is based on a
light novel series written by Toshihiko Tsukiji and illustrated by Senmu from
November 24, 2006 to March 25, 2010. A manga adaptation of the series also
written by Tsukiji and illustrated by Yu Tachibana is currently being published
in the Japanese seinen magazine, Monthly Comic Alive, since April 2008. The TV
anime is currently licensed in America
by Sentai Filmworks and is available for purchase on DVD.

The Plot

Oh boy, I've got boobs!

Ordinary high school student Natsuru Seno wakes up one day
to discover he has transformed into a girl with a stuffed tiger called Harakiri
Tiger telling him that he has been chosen to be a Kampfer, female fighters
destined to fight each other. Natsuru comes to realize this problem when
attacked by a mysterious Kampfer armed with a pistol while on his way to
school.

Notable Characters (from left to right)

Natsuru Seno- The male lead of the series and the only
Kampfer who is actually a male. While in Kampfer form, Natsuru is capable of
throwing fireballs at her foes. To his dismay, Natsuru finds himself forced to
enroll into his school while in female form that gets the admiration and
various degrees of affection from those among the school’s female student body.

Kaede Sakura- One of the school’s three most popular girls
who is Natsuru’s main romantic interest. However, she only has romantic
interest in Natsuru’s female form. She has a large collection of a series of
mutilated stuffed animals called Entrails Animals.

Akane Mishima- A shy and soft-spoken honor student who
normally wears glasses. She takes interest in Natsuru and has the habit of
misunderstanding what others say and interpreting them in an erotic context.
Her Kampfer form is foul-mouthed and violent in personality, who wields a
pistol for use in fights that she is quite trigger-happy with.

Shizuku Sango- The president of the school student council
and one of the school’s three most popular girls. As a Kampfer, she wields a
pair of two daggers that are linked together by a chain. Shizuku seeks to learn
more about the reason why the Kampfer must fight one another as she hates being
the tool of whoever arranged for the Kampfer battles. She is a close friend of
Kaede and like the other girls, develops a romantic interest in Natsuru.

Mikoto Kondo- Natsuru’s childhood friend who has traveled
the world and returns to see him later in the series. As a Kampfer, Mikoto
wields a katana for use in battle.

Harakiri Tiger- A stuffed tiger with its intestines
sticking out of its stomach and wearing an eye patch serving as Natsuru’s
Moderator in the Kampfer battles.

Why It Sucks

If there are two words that come to mind with Kampfer, it
would be wasted potential. While the series does have a somewhat unique premise
with its battling schoolgirls story, the series rather quickly sets the premise
aside to turn itself into yet another unwanted harem anime.

One of enough scenes featuring Natsuru being a doormat, with Akane along the ride.

Natsuru plays out as your typical doormat to the perverted antics
and misunderstandings he undergoes with the several girls who have interest in
him and is ridiculously dense in knowing the affections of those not named
Kaede Sakura. The gender-swapping element to his transformation into a Kampfer
adds more mindlessness to the series as Natsuru finds herself (for lack of a
better word) getting enough fangirls ogling for her and being subjected to
varying degrees of sexual harassment and perverted antics from school club
representatives and the female student body admiring her for outer beauty or
using the attractiveness of her body to enhance club status. The main group of girls interested in Natsuru don't help matters either as they are mostly nothing more than archetypes that you would find in one form or another in other ecchi, harem, romantic comedy and/ or other high school-based anime.

The unwanted harem element to the series gets so bad that
Kampfer is completely lacking a plot for much of its run. The series makes an
attempt at a plot for three of its final four episodes regarding the origins of
the Kampfer and another group of Kampfer that Natsuru and the girls encounter.
But due to how rushed and poorly built up this plot element is and how the new
characters get portrayed, the horrible plotting only adds to the mindlessness
that Kampfer portrays throughout its run.

Haven't tried this show. I'm not much of an ecchi fan. This takes gender bender to the extreme. I'm watching Ranma 1/2 right now to help out HalberdierV2 to get information on Ranma. From what you said, it sounds like Seikon no Qwaser's situation. It has good premise but falls short and relies too much on fan service. I never thought Kampfer would be harem series when looking at the main image on the top.